


History Inverted

by Sanjuno



Series: Names of Power [2]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: AVALANCHE plans to kill people, Alternate Timelines, But I do so it is, Hojo's name is on it in thirteen different places, I see what you did there Aerith, If I didn't write such long fics this wouldn't be an issue, Just in case someone forgets, Multi, OMG so many characters, Riku gets hugs, SO MANY PEOPLE, Sephiroth needs so many hugs, The Character Death is only temporary, The Remnants get hugs too, They have a list, Why isn't there an 'everyone' tag, Yay alternate timeline shenanigans, things get worse before they get better, whatever
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-10
Updated: 2015-11-10
Packaged: 2018-05-01 00:11:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5184905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sanjuno/pseuds/Sanjuno
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Planet has fallen to ruin around them, and their children have been lost to plague and fire. Offered one last chance to alter their fates, Avalanche is sent by Aeris to a new world. Much like their past, this new future holds faces both dear and reviled, and while Avalanche themselves may have died, many of their loved ones live on. Given what they have seen, given what they know, Avalanche is going to take every opportunity to save the ones they lost before… even if they don’t want saving.</p>
            </blockquote>





	History Inverted

**Author's Note:**

> Be warned that this fic is, in fact, a sequel to Small Packages. The first story in this series isn't done yet, so reading this (first) may leave some people confused. Seeing as how confusion on behalf of the vast majority of the Planet's inhabitants was the whole point of this plot line I figured I might as well put what I have written up and see where it goes from there.

Yuffie scrambled to keep up with Vincent. Avalanche had settled down together to raise the kids on a beachside ranch about an hour’s drive south of Costa-de-Sol. Until recently, things had been rosy – but then people had started going crazy. Rufus and the Turks had even unbent enough to ask nicely for Avalanche’s help in containing the spreading madness. Even their best was too little too late. Soldiers were mobbed in the streets, met with so many opponents that even with their mako-enhanced strength the best they could hope for was mutually assured destruction. Monsters had started leaving their wilderness habitats in droves to rampage through previously safe towns and cities. It was worse by far than any form of mako-poisoning on record. As if some strange form of rabies had infected the entire Planet – there was no way to quarantine, no discernible method of transmission – the outbreak made no sense! There was no way to track its progression, no symptoms beyond a sudden desire to kill off everything living in the area.

                  Rufus and his Turks had been killed in the big attack that had toppled the new Shin-Ra Tower, and Avalanche – thanking the Spirits that Reeve ran WRO from home – had retreated from the front lines. Yuffie was lucky – her stubborn avoidance of her father’s attempts to arrange an _omiai_ had kept her from returning to Wutai. The island nation had torn itself apart, diseased aggression turned inwards by the blocking sea. Travel was impossible – it was all Avalanche could do to just survive in the world gone mad.

                  Yuffie shook her head, refusing to think about her father. Godo had lived and died a _samurai_ – but Yuffie was _ninja_ , and _shinobi_ had different measures of honour. Yuffie looked up from her chocobo’s head and her eyes went to the spot on the horizon that marked home. Dark black smoke rose in a thick, lazy column.

                  “Vinnie.” Yuffie’s voice was small, scared and she had to clear her throat frantically as the ex-Turk looked up from the tracks they had been following for the last few hours as Yuffie’s voice cracked. “Vinnie! The house!”

                  Vincent’s head whipped around to follow Yuffie’s pointing finger. The harsh gasp of air he took in when his crimson eyes locked on to the smoke said it all. They were nearly an hour out from the ranch at their chocobo mounts top speed, and for them to be able to see that much smoke so clearly…

                  Yuffie did not even stop to think, she just hauled her chocobo around – sparing a brief moment to be thankful that the riding birds seemed to be immune to the crazy that was going around – and Vincent was in the saddle of his own mount, keeping pace as they tore across the hills towards home. Their birds seemed to pick up on the urgency of their riders, splashing right through the stream they usually stopped to water at without breaking stride.

                  “Nonono, please no.” Yuffie chanted pleas and curses under her breath, a _sutra_ of denial warding against harsh reality. Vincent remained chillingly silent as they crested the last swell between them and the ranch house.

                  “ _No!_ ” Yuffie howled as she raced down the hill at a breakneck pace. The house – their home – was a smouldering hulk of crumbled stone and seared logs. Nothing remained of the stables but charred beams and ash. The chocobo flocks – Marlene’s pride and joy – were gone, the fences broken and the greens fields reduced to churned muck. Yuffie ignored the bodies of monsters and unfamiliar humans alike – there was little difference between the two these days – searching frantically for a sign that it was not as bad as it looked, flicking deadly _shuriken_ at anything that twitched and was not-family. A flash of familiar blue, caught in the corner of her eye had Yuffie turning. She stumbled over the wreckage, ignored the burns that blistered her hands when she tripped in her haste.

                  “Oh no, no, no.” Yuffie could not force any other word past her chapped lips, denial looping in her thoughts as she dropped to her knees in the ash and reached out with trembling hands.

                  “Demyx?” Her voice broke as she searched for signs of life in the still body… and found none. “No, Demy _please_ …”

                  Tears cut clear trails through the grime on her face as Yuffie pulled the boy – the body – into her arms. She could remember a cheeky grin flashed her way as newly cut hair was admired, other members of their makeshift clan fleeing Yuffie’s brandished clippers. She remembered the little brother she had never realized she wanted until she had him. Leading him through the steps of a _kagura kata_ that would work in concert with his _sitar_ , and the unashamed glee – so much like hers – that had sparkled in his eyes the first time water had moved to his will. The way his face lit up when she called him _otouto_.

                  Now his sitar was smashed, reduced to slivers of smoke-blackened blue varnish, and Demyx was still and quiet and…

                  “Gone. Oh _kami_ , Demy-chan, please no…” Yuffie hiccupped, her breath stuttering into a wail as she cried out her pain. Screaming denial and mixed into and got tangled in the remembered pain of a little girl losing her mother to a war she did not understand. “No! No, no, no! _Demyx!_ ”

                  “Yuffie.” The deep voice was harsh and broken, rough with smoke and grief until it was barely related to the smooth purr she was used to.

                  “Red, oh thank the thousand little gods, Red. You’re alive.” Yuffie rose up on her knees, pinned to the ground by grief that weighed her down, held tight in her arms. Nanaki limped slowly towards her, one leg dragging useless behind him. “Red. Red, you’re alive. Demy – Red, Demy’s… he’s gone, he’s d-dead. Oh _kami_.”

                  “Yuffie…” Nanaki nosed her shoulder gently, sorrow in his eyes – young eyes like hers, young eyes made ancient by pain and grief. “Come, we must find the others. They may yet need us.”

                  “Demo – demo ne, we can’t leave him here. Demyx…” Yuffie hunched over the body, pulled it closer to her breast as one hand clenched white-knuckled in Nanaki’s scruff.

                  “No, we cannot.” Nanaki keened briefly, his muzzle brushing gently over dark blond hair that was quickly losing its carefully styled shape. “Bring him with us. We will find him somewhere to rest later.”

                  “Y-yeah. Yeah. Okay.” Yuffie forced herself to her feet, shifting her little brother’s body on to her hip. It hurt, this would be the last time she would ever carry him this way, never feel little arms wrap around her neck as he buried his face in her shoulder and mumbled ‘ _not tired, nee-chan, really_ ’ as she carried him to bed. Together they slowly made their way over the debris strewn ground.

                  It took them a while to cover the distance, held back as they were by Nanaki’s injuries and Yuffie’s tragic burden, but eventually they managed to find their way around to where at least one of the others was likely to be – if they had managed to survive. The yard lay on the south side of the house, where Cid and Barrett had teamed up to build the kids a playground that every other child on Gaia could only dream about. The wooden castle with its climbing towers, swings, slides, and tunnels was completely demolished.

                  First Tsurugi was planted in the ground, enemies piled high was testament to its use. Cloud was slumped on the ground, using the sword as a backrest and covered in blood. From the spread, at least half of it was his. Like Nanaki his legs were a shredded mess. Denzel was curled up in Cloud’s lap, just as bloody as the man who held him. The boy’s dark blue eyes – green tinted and cat-pupiled since Geostigma – were red and the salt tracks of dried tears were stark on his face. Cloud and Denzel barely shifted at Yuffie and Nanaki’s approach, their hollow eyes drifting to and away from them without any real recognition – it was threat assessment, nothing more. It was not until Yuffie drew even with the giant sword that she could see what held their attention. Some of the rubble from the destroyed playground had been shifted aside.

                  Sora. Roxas. Axel.

                  Three little boys laid out neatly in a row, burned and bloodied and heartbreaking. Yuffie choked back a sob and gently put Demyx down next to Axel. Iridescent feathers gleamed red-and-gold in the dust. Yuffie touched one gently with trembling fingertips as it drifted a little in the breeze.

                  “We tried Phoenix Down as soon as we dug them out.” Cloud’s voice was as empty as his eyes. “It didn’t work. Potions don’t work. Materia doesn’t work.”

                  “Leviathan’s scales.” Yuffie dropped to her knees between Cloud and Nanaki, curling her arms around the fire-wolf in search of some form of fleeting comfort.

                  A clatter off to the other side drew their eyes as Tifa and Barrett came into view, Reeve managing to follow in their wake only with the assistance of Cait Sith’s Mog. The black and white animatronic cat was a crushed wreck of circuitry and fur draped over Reeve’s shoulder. Tifa was clutching Marlene in her arms, face pale with pain and terrified fury. Marlene’s dress was torn and stained, but her small shoulders shook with sobs, so at least she was alive enough to cry. The two smaller bodies Barrett cradled in his large arms were ominously still. Tifa reached Cloud’s side and slowly collapsed, bowing her head to press her lips against Marlene’s dark hair. Barrett looked over the desolate scene slowly, and then, his expression bleak with resignation, stepped forward to lay his sorrowful burdens down with the others.

                  Kairi. Namine.

                  “Them too?” Yuffie hiccupped in disbelief, fresh tears soaking into Nanaki’s red fur.

                  “They were playing with Marlene – having a picnic by the Koi pond…” Tifa’s voice shook, shock setting in as the last of her battle-rage faded. “We tried – we couldn’t…”

                  “They aimed fer our legs.” Barrett stumbled over the last few steps to land heavily on one knee by Tifa’s side. His flesh hand came to rest gently on Marlene’s shaking back. “Got us slowed down an’ dog-piled us. Th’ other two were on th’ far side’a th’ pond. It took us… too long ta git there.”

                  Marlene wailed – a high, thin sound that echoed eerily in the leaden air. She was joined by a familiar roar – the voice guttural and harsh with pain. Vincent ghosted over the rubble with Cid in his arms. The pilot was curled nearly foetal around a small body. Cid was curing unintelligibly, blood still dripping from legs laid open to the bone. Tattered red fabric bound the worst of the wounds – a semi-futile attempt to keep the blond man from bleeding out. Vincent’s face was paler than normal as he set Cid down and pried Cid’s arms open. Reeve moved in, taking the opening to remove the body from Cid’s arms, stumbling back as Cid lunged forward. Vincent halted Cid’s movement, held his friend down as Cid howled in twisted, snarling rage. The smaller man’s hands clawed at Vincent’s arms, broken nails digging into protective leather. Reeve laid the last body down, completing the grim tally.

                  Riku.

                  “Why?” Tifa’s voice was wretched, drawn from a dark, painful place born of fire and screams. “Why is this happening? Haven’t – haven’t we suffered enough?”

                  “It’s not fair!” Marlene screamed, her young voice channelling all their pain into volume. “I want them back! I want my brothers and sisters back!”

                  “Hun…” Barrett could not find anything to say – nothing could make this better for his daughter, his little girl who _never_ should have been made to suffer this pain – wordlessly, Barrett rubbed Marlene’s back, large hand gentle on her slender shoulders.

                  “Aeris.” Cloud’s voice was shockingly clear as it broke the hush, calm – but hard, merciless as he raised pitiless glowing eyes to a point just beyond where the children’s bodies had been laid out. “Aeris. What was the reason for this? Why is the Planet doing this?”

                  “Cloud…?” Tifa’s hesitant question died unasked when the air shimmered and the light wreathed image of their dead friend faded into view.

                  “ _I’m so sorry, Cloud._ ” Aeris voice was only half-heard by the ears, her form only half-seen by the eyes, but her green eyes held the same immeasurable pain as theirs. “ _Gaia is preparing to purge Jenova completely, but she needs more power to complete the rebirth cycle. Jenova’s influence has weakened the Lifestream so much – there was no way for this to happen gently, so She is moving as quickly as possible to bring as many souls back to the source as possible. I’m sorry, I tried to stop it!_ ”

                  Cloud just watched her with gutted eyes as the spectre of the last Cetra cried immaterial tears.

                  “ _She took Zack._ ” Whispered Aeris in a voice broken by confusion and betrayal. “ _Tore him from my side and consumed him. That’s when I found out what was going on – but it was too late, I can’t stop this. I don’t think I ever could._ ”

                  “So what do we do now?” Cid snarled, straining against Vincent’s hold as the early sparks of a Limit Break snapped around him. “Jest roll over and wait ta die? They _killed my kids!_ ”

                  “Calm down, Cid.” Vincent murmured, frowning in concern. “If you break your Limit in this condition you will very likely die.”

                  “Since when has the threat of certain death ever stopped any of us from taking action?” Reeve questioned in a faint voice from where he was slumped against Mog’s side.

                  Vincent cast a baleful look at Reeve that made the other man wince in apology. “Your commentary is unappreciated. I am attempting to keep him calm.”

                  “Th’ man does have a point.” Barrett held his hand up in surrender when Vincent glared at him too.

                  “ _Do you mean it?_ ” Aeris cut in, drawing all of their attention back to her. “ _Would you risk almost certain death to get those children back? Will you trust me when I tell you that I know a way?_ ”

                  “How?” The hope in Yuffie’s eyes was painful in its intensity. “Tell us how!”

                  “ _Gaia has a lot of power gathered up right now._ ” Aeris’ was obviously thinking things through as she spoke. “ _I… can make use of that._ ”

                  “Make use of it how?” Nanaki lifted his head from the ground. “I would not have you return the children to life if our fate is to suffer the pain of death once again.”

                  “ _No, nothing like that._ ” Aeris looked at them, her gaze thoughtful as she took in the fight between hope and devastation writ on each face. “ _I’m thinking of something… a bit different from simple resurrection._ ”

                  “Which is?” Tifa blinked away the prickle of tears, a frown growing on her face as Aeris’ expression grew calculating. “Aeris? What are you going to do?”

                  “ _I’m going to send you away. All of you._ ” Aeris’ green eyes were hard with determination. “ _I’m going to use this blood-bought Power – these stolen lives – to open a path and send you all through to a new Planet. I won’t let Her have you – I deny Her this! I deny Her you! Hopefully, the situation will not have progressed to this point and you can all start over. The children will still be alive, and I know you’ll be able to find them again. You can save them! Protect them!_ ”

                  “Uh, you can… do that?” Yuffie shifted uneasily as Aeris’ voice rose in a savage screech. “When?”

                  Aeris grinned, wide and toothy. “ _Now._ ”

                  The wind hit like a hammer, like a solid force, implacable and somehow green as it dragged them all away from the ground that ceased to exist. Aeris voice traveled on the wind, echoing all around them as they were carried away. “ _Good luck, my beloved friends, maybe this time… maybe this time you can save me as well._ ”

                  “Aeris!” The green-eyed flower girl smiled with sadness-tinged relief as she flung her friends through the opening she had torn in the weft of the world – the fabric of reality twisted and broken to make a path from one to the next. The Lifestream surged, roiling in rage at the theft of its strongest souls. Aeris closed her eyes, feeling threads hook and bind her soul-flesh. The way had already shut behind them, her friends were safe. The next wave tore her apart, but she was at peace with her fate thanks to the knowledge that had taken root in the endless moment she had held the gate open. Her friends – her family – were safe; they lived on in a world where Jenova still slept. The last of the Cetra dissolved into the endless well of souls with the mockery of her triumphant laughter as her swan song.

 =/=

                  Cloud woke up beset by a curious tingling feeling – it was like when he used materia without equipping it properly first – his skin felt electrified and too tight on his body. Glowing blue eyes opened on a world coloured in shades of green. Cloud blinked, recognizing his surroundings in the half-remembered way of nightmares. He was contained in a mako cage, in a lab, and yet – and yet. He could feel the press of the Lifestream carried through the mako, could hear the whispering memories of those who had touched this mako – the pain of the ‘subjects’, the twisted curiosity of the so-called scientists – but unlike the last time Cloud had been confined in a mako tube the voices did not pull at him. He could hear them, could touch them, but they could not hold him, and there was a barrier between their memory and his. Interesting.

                  Cloud thought back, experimentally riffling through his memories in search of the now-familiar feeling of gaps and blank spots badly patched over with fever dreams and stolen other-memories. The blond was oddly pleased to remember the gift his mother had given him for his ninth birthday. Aeris’ trick had healed something – or maybe it was more accurate to say that something had been returned – the memories Cloud had long thought stolen by the Lifestream slotted back into their correct places. He could remember his mother, and how much she had loved him. He could remember Tifa, her kindness and her selfishness and her childishness while they grew up in the same town. He could remember _Zack_ , not just desperate and determined as he had been during their escape, but alive and laughing and _real_.

                  It was so much more than he ever could have asked for. The strange doubling of his memories was something he could have done without however – Cloud grimaced, recalling the stomach-churning ride between worlds holding place in parallel with the memory of running afoul of Hojo’s temper after the debacle of Modeoheim. Two different paths, both equally responsible for his current predicament, and both equally real… Cloud could not decide if he wanted to laugh or scream. At this rate, he was never going to get his head screwed on straight.

                  Refocusing on the situation, Cloud looked around as much as he was able with mako and thick curved glass distorting his view. He was naked – an awkward, but not insurmountable issue. As things stood, Zack was still free, Sephiroth was still sane, and the situation was chaotic enough that Hojo had put off the Nibelheim mission. Cloud hummed a little victory tune – Genesis and Hollander and Deepground and Fuhito and Avalanche version one – they would all have to be dealt with, and the Soldiers destroyed by each rescued, but it was _possible_ , and all they needed was a chance. Cloud smiled grimly at his dim reflection in the glass. ‘ _It’s not a perfect world, no – but it’s a world that can still be saved, and that’s more than I ever thought to ask for. Thank you Aeris. I promise to keep this you alive, and you’ll get to stay with Zack, too. You’re going to be happy, and I don’t care **who** I have to kill to make that happen._ ’

                  Movement! Cloud’s eyes tracked the opening of the door as a single lab technician shuffled into the room, motion activated lights flickering into dim life. The man ignored Cloud in favour of the control system attached to an adjacent mako tube. Cloud’s lips curled in a silent snarl. The other cage was filled with mako… and Denzel. Dark blue eyes were wide with fear, oddly clear despite the distance.

                  Cloud saw red.

                  His closed fist slammed into the tempered glass that made up the front of his cage. The lab tech jumped as the sound echoed through the otherwise empty lab. Shivering the man froze, obviously trying to calm his nerves. Another crack and the man spun around to face Cloud’s tube, face pale with fright as he clutched his clipboard in a white-knuckled grip, mouth open in horrified denial. Cloud drew back his arm for a third strike when the thought occurred to him. ‘ _Sephiroth did it._ ’

                  Cloud called firmly and swung. First Tsurugi heeded its master and sheared through the glass and metal of Cloud’s cage. Bursting free in a shower of mako and crashing equipment, Cloud swung his sword again; cutting off the nameless scientist’s terrified shrieking in a spray of crimson. The next strike shattered the glass that trapped Denzel. The boy began coughing as Cloud pulled him free of the mess that was quickly evaporating in steaming green vapour. Hacking breaths caught him by surprise, Cloud stumbled across the lab, spiting as air replaced the liquid mako in his lungs. ‘ _No breathing masks or feeding tubes… we were preserved? Not viable anyway, no wonder there was only the one tech. So – damn. We’re dead here. That could come back to bite us in the end, but for now not existing could be useful._ ’

                  “Cloud? Where are we?” Denzel blinked in bewilderment, clearing the green from his eyes as Cloud wiped them down with the sheet that had been draped over one of the metal tables. The glow in Denzel’s eyes was stronger than the faint shimmer of before, and Cloud’s breath hissed between his teeth. They were going to have to think of something to hide that for both of them – the mako eyes that marked Soldiers were far too memorable for incognito travel.

                  “A lab.” Cloud started opening the cabinets in search of clothing. They had First Tsurugi – they could stage an escape naked – but it would be simpler and far less awkward all around if they were dressed. Naked people got noticed, people in hospital scrubs were ignored as too much trouble. “We need to go.”

                  “Are the others here?” Denzel obediently put on the drawstring pants Cloud handed him, standing still for Cloud to tear them off at a length that would let the boy run without worrying about tripping over his hems.

                  Cloud pulled his own clothing on, head tilted to the side with the air of a man listening to voices coming from the next room. “No. The others landed somewhere else. Let’s go.”

                  “Alright.” Denzel followed his foster father out the door and never faltered, not even when Cloud insisted on making sure that no one could come after them. They were lucky, for once. The lab they had awoken in was low priority storage, which meant low security, and that allowed them to take their time. They were able to download the data-storage onto a portable drive, check the lab over for anyone they may want to keep alive (just in case), and ransack the labs for combustibles. After a quick lesson for Denzel in the fine art of home-made bomb creation, they seeded the lab thickly enough to ensure any evidence of their passage would be obliterated. The fact that the materials for their explosives had come from the lab itself would further mar their trail. Cloud spared a brief moment to apologize mentally to the Turks – Avalanche’s awakenings and movements were going to make things difficult for the Intelligence branch of Shin-Ra’s military.

                  Cloud and Denzel blinked in surprise when they exited the lab. They were in the old Midgar slums.

                  “Looks just like I remember it.” Cloud took Denzel’s hand and pulled the twelve-year-old along down the nearest alleyway. Denzel gawked up at the bottom of the Plate he had not seen since its destruction in the fall of Midgar four years before. Cloud kept them moving, looking for a fire escape or scaffold that would get them up on to the rooftops. The best plan would be to avoid attention, and in the slums taking the high road was the best way to do that. “This looks like Sector Five – that pipe we came out of. I remember finding a Reunion Clone hiding in there.”

                  “Sector Five... the church is nearby!” Denzel grinned as Cloud hauled them both up the criss-crossing pipes until they were high enough to see over the entire sector. “Are we going to go there?”

                  Cloud paused to think, looking around warily before squinting up at the bottom of the Plate. His gaze lingered on the still-attached segment that sat above Sector Seven. The ground shook as fire belched from the open ends of pipes – grating and covers blown open with the force of the explosion funnelled through the rusting tubes. The lab had finally exploded. Cloud chuckled as Denzel whooped, pumping his fist in the air with vindictive glee.

                  “No. We’re going to head for Nibelheim.” Cloud looked to the West, somehow certain of his direction despite Lower Midgar’s perpetual twilight. “We need to deal with Jenova before we do anything else. The others are going to head that way too, just in case Vincent needs help getting free. Of all of us, he’s the only one likely to be locked in.”

                  “Okay.” Denzel was quiet for a moment as they moved from roof to roof, following in Cloud’s wake with a more-than-human agility that matched his otherworldly eyes. “How are we going to get rid of Jenova?”

                  “I’m hoping that Chaos will feel like helping, if not, Cid can build another Rocket and we’ll launch her into the sun.” Cloud looked grim; holding Denzel back as a pack of Don Corneo’s procurers swaggered by, manfully resisting the urge to pound their leering faces into the ground. He had never quite gotten over being the ‘prettiest bride’ that time Tifa had been taken. “We don’t have enough information on this world to make any real plans. I know what our goals are – meet up with the others, destroy Jenova, save your siblings, get rid of Hojo and his rivals – but until we learn more about the current situation we can’t really take action effectively.”

                  “Right. Information is the key to victory.” Denzel nodded firmly, remembering lessons learned from every member of Avalanche. They had all stressed the importance of being as fully informed as possible before entering a conflict, and the children had taken their lessons to heart. Boring at times or not – the Heroes of the Planet were _cool_ and therefore everything they said was gospel. “Hey, Cloud?”

                  “Yeah?” Cloud glanced down at Denzel before moving again. The streets had cleared enough for the blond to feel safe continuing on.

                  “Do you think we can get some real clothes before we leave?” Denzel plucked at his mint green scrubs, nose wrinkled in distaste. Cloud surprised him with an amused laugh, pointing ahead of them with a grin.

                  “Wall Market is just over there.” Cloud let the feeling of hope settle, amazed by Denzel’s resilience and bolstered by the twelve-year-old’s determination. Things just might turn out for the better this time, and at the very least, Cloud would not be doing this alone. “We’re going to get clothes and head for Junon. Now get ready, and remember everything Yuffie ever told you about picking pockets.”

=/=

                  Although he was not aware of it at the time, Reeve woke in their new reality at the same time as Cloud. The toymaker took a few seconds longer than his blond comrade to recognize his surroundings, having never lived through such a thing before. It was the difference between reading a report and going into action yourself.

                  ‘ _So this is what a pickle feels like._ ’ Reeve looked around with shameless curiosity. Yuffie and Nanaki were in the mako-filled tubes across the room from his. There was no discernible breathing apparatus attached to any of them. Respiration did not seem to be an issue at the moment, but there was no telling how long that state of affairs would last. It would be best if they were to free themselves as quickly as possible. ‘ _Interesting. Still, it’s far and past the time we left this place._ ’

                  Reeve cupped one hand around the red glow of a Summons, smiling like a proud father at the smooth red orb that rose from the flesh of his palm. Gentle fingertips brushed over the slick surface of the globe. ‘ _I remember you… go on._ ’

                  The summon materia disappeared in a flash of red light, briefly illuminating the far corners of the lab. Yuffie leaned forward, waving cheerfully at Reeve from her tube. Shadows covered the room again, the lab lit only by the dim markers set above the doors and in the floor. Reeve wiggled his fingers back at Yuffie in reply, but most of his attention was focused on carrying out his quickly slapped together plan.

                  In an old storeroom, lacking even the meanest emergency light and packed end to end with dust covered crates filled with abandoned projects and long forgotten experimental designs, a red light flashed. The soft whirr of machinery coming to life broke the stillness and reflective gold eyes opened, predator eyes shining in the dark.

                  “Gud mornin’, Shin-Ra!” Cait Sith grinned as he beat the dust from his cape, swirling it back around his neck with a flourish. The crowned cat posed heroically for an audience of none. “Time fer a wee mite o’ hackin’ an’ escapin’, aye Moggie?”

                  Reeve grinned as the computer panels attached to their cages lit up, program windows flashing open and shutting down as code scrolled by faster than a human could read. Soon enough, air hissed from a released pressure valve as the mako drained out through grates under their feet. The cage doors unlocked and swung open once the mako finished draining. Reeve coughed violently, hearing Yuffie and Nanaki do the same as air hit their faces. Reeve shook his head, trying to clear mako from his eyes and ears and nose and mouth… it covered him _everywhere_ – sticky and cold and prickling hot all at once – it was less than pleasant, but he managed to scrounge a faint smile from somewhere. “Good job, Cait. Thank you.”

                  The intercom crackled, spitting static and the cheerful mania of Reeve’s favourite alter ego. “T’was nowt a problem, m’laird. Grab yon sheet or sommat, I’ve cleared ye a path t’the outside. Moggie and I’ll meet ye at th’exit with proper garb. See ye there!”

                  “ _Domo-domo_ , _Koneko-chan!_ ” Yuffie grinned, tossing aside the drop-sheet she had used to scrub the mako out of Nanaki’s fur and already shoulders deep in a likely looking closet.

                  “Find anything?” Reeve grabbed a sheet for his own use, and doing his best not to let his eyes wander to anything Lord Godo would consider inappropriate. Yuffie had grown up sheltered and joined Avalanche when she was all of fifteen. There was a noticeable difference between fifteen and twenty – but Yuffie seemed dead set on ignoring the passage of time, just as cheerfully unconcerned by her body now as she was as a child. Yuffie was like a little sister to all of them and that… possibly contributed to her lack of shame. Reeve doubted she would want to be naked in front of someone who was not considered family. It was still awkward on his part.

                  “Yep. Here, catch.” Reeve caught the bundle Yuffie threw at him, shaking it out into a lab coat and drawstring pants. Yuffie laughed at the mournful look Reeve sent her way. “It’s that or naked, your choice.”

                  “Better than nothing I suppose.” Reeve sighed and started to dress, aggravation clear on his face. In light of the bad associations many of their group had with ‘scientists’ and ‘labs’ and the dreaded ‘white coats’, Cid and Reeve did their best not to fit the stereotype. Despite their multiple and shared doctorates in mathematics, robotics, electronics, computer programming and aeronautics, both men refused to accept the appellation ‘scientist’ and fervently insisted that they were ‘engineers’. Yuffie thought it was hilarious, but agreed that the further separated they were from men like Hojo the better.

                  “So where are we?” Yuffie buttoned up a lab coat of her own. It was overlarge on her petite frame, but other than the deep vee of the neckline it covered her decently from neck to knees.

                  “A lab.” Unaware of exactly how much long exposure to the rest of AVALANCHE had effected his mindset, Reeve just smirked when the young ninja huffed at him. Yuffie rolled dark violet eyes in a very expressive, voiceless opinion of Reeve's sense of humour.

                  “I believe Yuffie was inquiring as to our geographical location.” Nanaki looked up from his grooming. Yuffie had gotten the worst of the mess off with the sheet, but some things required more personal attention and his tail flame had taken this long to reach a semi-decent state.

                  Reeve sighed, looking around the labs with narrowed eyes. Narrowed eyes that shimmered materia-gold in the gloom as he leaned over a dusty computer terminal and pried it open to get at the hard drive. “We’ll find out where we are once we get outside. Cait will have found that much information for us.”

                  “Let’s get a move on and blow this joint!” Yuffie bounced on her heel impatiently as Reeve unearthed a forgotten computer bag and packed it with the scavenged memory drives. Purple eyes sparked and flared noticeably in the gloom as the ninja loosed a small snarl of impatience. “… Okay, you can do your stupid computer thing. _I’m_ going to rewire the power generators to blow up. All this mako means I can make _something_ explode.”

                  Nanaki chuckled and padded after Yuffie while Reeve did his best to hunt down likely looking computers. This must be one of Hojo’s labs, and the more of his files they had, the easier it would be to find the rest. Once their self-appointed tasks were complete, they made their way to the outside of the lab. Blinded by the natural light after the gloom of the lab, they paused to blink spots from their vision. The sun was high in the brilliant blue sky, shining brightly on the white-topped waves as they washed up over the glittering pale beach sand of the shore, highlighted the intense patterns of the colourful shirts presented to them by a demonically grinning Cait Sith.

                  “… We’re in Costa-de-Sol?” Reeve shook his head in disbelief. Yes, Hojo had been known to spend an inordinate amount of time in the resort town, but Reeve had never given thought to the man having a lab there. Really, he should have known better.

                  “Aye.” Cait Sith danced in happy little circles atop the Mog’s head. “Lucky fer ye tha’ they shipped me here along wit’ ye, aught ye’d be nekkid as a babe in arms, and tis nowt a nuddie beach, ye ken?”

                  “So.” Yuffie shed the lab coat and pulled on the swim suit Cait Sith had provided for her, holding the shorts and sandals in one hand as she cast a considering look at the water, slanted eyes casting back violet sparkles of light. “Take the opportunity to wash off first, but then what? Where do we go from here?”

                  “Cloud is heading for Nibelheim.” Nanaki followed his human companions down to the water’s edge, rolling in the sand for a dust bath as they ducked under the waves to rid themselves of the last of the mako residue. Both Reeve and Yuffie rose up, hip deep in water with their heads tilted to the side, listening with distant eyes.

                  “It’s as good a plan as any.” Reeve looked at the just-visible rooftops of Costa-de-Sol proper, Yuffie’s gaze turning calculating as she followed his line of sight.

                  “Let’s stock up for the trip.” Yuffie chirped, practically dancing out of the waves on to the sand. “Around or over – those mountains are gonna be trouble if we don’t have gear.”

                  Reeve looked at Yuffie’s pleading face and sighed, smiling helplessly. “Agreed. Go ahead, Yuffie, this is your show.”

                  “Yatta!” Yuffie scrambled into the rest of her clothes, ignoring the salt drying on her skin as she dragged Reeve down the beach, Nanaki bounding along beside them. Their footprints were washed away by the sand long before the mess Yuffie had made of the lab’s mako generators reached critical mass.

                  The explosion could be seen from town, and the distraction kept the populace from noticing the sudden rash of thefts that occurred that night until much later. By that time, equipped with tents, armbands and what few decent materia could be scrounged up, the trio of Avalanche members were on their way South-West, aiming for the pass that would get them through the Corel Mountains.

**Author's Note:**

> Irony is having a couple thousand words of the middle of the story written, but nothing to bridge the opening chapter to what's been finished. Therefore please look forward to seeing more Small Packages long before I get around to updating History Inverted again. Which is as it should be. What did I think I was doing, writing the first chapter of the sequel before I finished the first story? Silly me.


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